what happens after death in hindu religion

Death is one truth that no one can deny. After death there is a belief of heaven and hell. As per Puranas, those who do good work in life go to heaven and those who do sins, reach hell.

But how does the soul goes to Yamraj in Yamlok? This part has been mentioned in Garuda Puran. It has also been mentioned in Garuda Puran that how does one die and how do they receive their judgment and take form of a soul.

As per Garuda Puran, the person who is going to die can’t speak, even if he wants to. In his last moments of life, drivyadrishti generates within him and he is able to understand the entire world. All his senses get destroyed and he is unable to move and goes stiff.
After this, saliva starts to drip from his mouth. A person who has done many sins in life loses his life from down. That time two gods of death come who look terrifying.
The yamduts are dark like crows, their faces are shapeless and their nails are their weapons. Seeing such personality, human gets scared and starts to urinate or pass motion.
Yamraj’s doot immediately tie the soul of a dead person and take it away. On the way to Yamlok, when the soul is tired, it is not allowed to stop for rest. Rather, the gods of death scare the scoul about the pains it has to take while in Yamlok.
Hearing these fearful stories about Yamlok, the souls starts to cry out loud, but the Yamdoots don’t show any sympathy. After this the soul starts remembering the sins he has done all his life.

The soul is unable to walk on sand that is hot like fire and it remains hungry. This is the time when the Yamdoots start to hit the soul with lash. That soul falls down several times, faints and then wake up to walk again. This is how the gods of death take the soul to Yamlok through a dark journey.
At Yamlok, the soul is made to show the place where it would live and then it finally meets Yamraj and with his permission returns to the place where it died for a while.

After reaching its body, the soul pleads to enter its body again, but is not allowed by Yamdoots. This is when it has to return to Yamlok.
After this, if the family members do not offer prayers for the dead person, the soul keeps wandering and resides in vacant silent places like forests.
As per Garuda Puran, after a person’s death, his family members must do Pind dan within 10 days.